Not Your Average Death Blog
How a Poet Helped Me Face What I Feared
Sometimes a moment arrives at exactly the wrong time and exactly the right time. That’s what happened when I tried to watch Come See Me in the Good Light, the documentary about poet Andrea Gibson’s life and final years. I didn’t get far before I shut it off, not because it was too sad, but because it came too close to something I had been avoiding in my own life.
In 2020, I had surgery to remove thyroid cancer. I’m fine today, and I’m grateful. But being “fine” doesn’t mean you get to stop paying attention. Follow-up scans, biopsies, and check-ins are still part of the deal. But, for the past year, I’ve avoided all of it. I told myself I’d deal with it “soon.” Then months, and then a year, passed.
When Grief Hits Hard, Our Words Still Matter
Every once in a while, a public moment catches you off guard, not because of the celebrity involved, but because of the raw honesty you hear in their voice.
That’s what happened when I watched Jimmy Kimmel’s recent monologue honoring Cleto Escobedo II, his longtime friend and bandleader. The grief in his voice was palpable. It’s the kind that only comes from losing someone who was woven into the fabric of your life for decades.
I genuinely appreciate that Kimmel brought that vulnerability to the screen. Grief is universal, and when someone with a big platform shows what love and loss really look like, it gives the rest of us permission to feel our own.
How Hosting This Podcast Taught Me to Face Grief
You Can’t Opt Out of Grief
There’s a difference between talking about grief and living it.
My Uncle Charlie passed away at 81 after a short illness. When I first got the call, I didn’t cry. I told my husband what had happened, said I was fine, and went to bed. But the next day, when I saw photos of him on Facebook, the tears came. It was like my brain had finally caught up to my heart.
A few months ago, funeral planner Jamie Sarche joined me on the podcast to talk about why we can’t “opt out” of grief. She told me that people often try to skip the grieving process by skipping the ceremony, doing a direct cremation, keeping busy, or convincing themselves that “getting rid of the body” will make things easier. But grief doesn’t work that way. It waits for you.
When we skip the rituals that come with saying goodbye, we skip a part of healing, too.
Death Readiness Is a Family Affair
I talk about death and estate planning a lot. It’s part of my work, my mission, and my daily conversations.
But nothing brings it home quite like seeing my daughter, April, wearing our latest Death Readiness merch. This is why I do what I do.
What Seventh-Grade Frogs Taught Me About Entrepreneurship
Turns out, entrepreneurship isn’t always about a big, flashy idea. Sometimes it starts with a pile of fabric scraps and a hunch that you can make something useful (and maybe even lovable). Sometimes it grows into a podcast, a community, and a mission that feels like the work you were always meant to do.
Everyone Belongs
There’s no shortage of confusing and harmful narratives about disability in the world. Too often, families are left to sort through myths and misinformation on their own. That’s why it matters so much to keep centering truth, dignity, and respect.
Last week, I had the joy of babysitting my sweet niece while her mom (my sister-in-law) visited her son’s kindergarten class to read a story and lead an art activity about inclusion. Watching her show up for those kids reminded me that legacy takes many forms. Sometimes it looks like policy change, sometimes like advocacy, and sometimes like reading aloud in a circle of five-year-olds.
Why I Turned Off Alex Hormozi’s Podcast
Like many small business owners, I’m always working and always learning.
Podcasts are one of my favorite ways to learn. They fit into dog walks, dishwashing, and school pickup lines—moments when I want my brain to stay active even if my hands are full.
This morning, while walking my dog, I pressed play on The Game with Alex Hormozi. I’m new to his show. This was maybe my third episode.
Alex was talking about what he called “exploitation mode,” his strategy for extracting the most value from the thing you already have. I was listening in, curious about how to apply that mindset to my business.
How Our Favorite Movies Trained Us to Accept Less
When you think about “estate planning,” old rom-coms probably don’t come to mind. But maybe they should. Because for many of us, the movies we grew up watching taught us more than we realized, especially about what we’re expected to accept.
These movies quietly trained us to accept less: less agency, less credit, less space, less support. And those lessons show up everywhere, from hospital rooms to attorney meetings, from caregiving roles to family finances.
In Episode 15 of The Death Readiness Podcast, I take a closer look at these cultural scripts, and how they still shape the way many women carry the emotional and logistical weight of family life.
It’s Going to Be Okay
In this episode of The Death Readiness Podcast, I’m not speaking as an estate attorney or a podcast host. I’m showing up as a daughter, a sister, a mother. A woman in the thick of the sandwich generation—caring for a child, walking alongside a father, and quietly planning for the day I’ll be the one who has to tell Dan again: “It’s going to be okay.”
Macaroni’s Story: Why We Hit Record—and Why You Should, Too
If you’ve been listening to The Death Readiness Podcast for a while, you know we often get into the legal mechanics of estate planning, end-of-life documents, and the practical steps that make life easier for the people we leave behind. But death readiness isn’t just about having the right paperwork. It’s about preparing your family for the day when you’re no longer here. It’s about preserving who you were—what you believed, what you lived through, what mattered to you.
And that kind of preparation doesn’t come in the form of a checklist. It comes in the form of stories. That’s why this episode - Macaroni’s Story: A Granddaughter Records Her Unknown Hero - is special. We’re sharing an excerpt from The Mastroianni Family Podcast—and giving you the tools to create a private family podcast of your own.
Celebrating Our 5-Year Famliversary: A Look Back at Love, Life, and Lockdown
Five years ago, in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband and I sat at our kitchen table with two incredible kids, a cell phone on speaker between us, and the Honorable Senior Judge Don R. Ash on the line from the Chancery Court of Rutherford County, Tennessee. The world had just shut down.
Happy World Down Syndrome Day!
Today, on World Down Syndrome Day, we reflect on this year’s theme: “Improve Our Support Systems.” It’s a theme that resonates deeply with the work we do at The Death Readiness Podcast—especially in our latest episode, “Who’s on Your Team? The Key Players in Special Needs Estate Planning,” released today.
The Power of Self-Perception
In a recent episode of The Death Readiness Podcast, I sat down with my father, Carmen Mastroianni, to talk about Dan’s early years. We discussed my parents’ battles to get others to see Dan’s full humanity, and the unique long-term planning that accompanies raising a child with a disability. I also sat down with Dan to get his perspective, in his own words.
Navigating Parenthood and Planning: A Father’s Story of Love, Advocacy, and Inclusion
Becoming a parent is always a life-changing experience, but when a child is born with special needs, the journey can bring unexpected challenges, emotions, and a steep learning curve.
In Episode 7 of The Death Readiness Podcast, I sit down with my dad to talk about the reality of raising a child with special needs, the fight for inclusion in schools and sports, and how my parents made long-term planning decisions. It’s a conversation about love, resilience, and the responsibility of planning for the future.
Death Readiness: Small Steps, Big Impact
What if you died today—suddenly and without warning?
I know, it’s not the kind of question most people want to think about. But death readiness isn’t just about you—it’s about the people you leave behind. What would they need to handle? Would they know where to find important documents? How to pay the bills? Whom to call?
In the first episode of The Death Readiness Podcast, I walk through two very different scenarios: one in which nothing has been planned, and another in which everything has been organized ahead of time. The difference between these two versions of events is staggering—and it highlights why small, manageable steps today can prevent chaos and stress for your loved ones later.